Steppin' Out

Story

A famous phantom finally gets his due

By Heather Zimmerman

The holidays may be a time of both giving and forgiving, especially in favorite seasonal stories, but one repentant character in a beloved Christmas tale seems to have simply missed out.

Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol by Tom Mula seeks to right that wrong. City Lights Theater presents this unique retelling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol through Dec. 23 at City Lights Theater, 529 S. Second St., San Jose.

Mula's play revisits the events of Ebenezer Scrooge's life-changing Christmas Eve from the point of view of Jacob Marley, Scrooge's late business partner. In life, Marley was just as avaricious as Scrooge, and now that he's dead, he has good reason to regret it. He's been condemned to hell, where is he chained with cash boxes and tormented by Bogle, his own personal demon-sprite.

Since Marley knows what comes of a life of avarice, he hopes to save his old friend, and helps put into motion the visits that turn Scrooge around.

Mula found inspiration for Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol when he played Scrooge in a stage production of A Christmas Carol and a friend's young daughter pointed out that Marley didn't get the same chance that Scrooge did.

Jeff Clarke directs Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol for City Lights. The cast features Amanda Folena, James Mantell, Michael Jerome West and Robyn Winslow.

Tickets are $25-$40. For more information, call 408.295.4200 or visit www.cltc.org.